HD 4870 crossfire question

[benedictorange]

see bottom of post for question

Current specs
Sappire HD 4870 1gb
E8500 (core 2 duo 3.16ghz)
P5Q mobo
4gb DDR2 1000 g.skill ram (2x2gb sticks)
Corsair 750 PSU

The computer has done quite well for me for the past 4.5 years in gaming and I'm still able to run the most demanding games on low-med settings, around 40-50fps for more demanding games and 60+fps for less demanding games.

About 2 months ago I decided it was time to upgrade the ram and bought the same ram set. However I noticed a few weeks later I was getting memory errors that resulted in either BSODs or lockups.

After testing for a little over a week. I came to the conclusion that either both pairs of sticks were defective OR both pairs and the mobo were defective OR the new pair and the mobo were defective. The conclusion was based on, testing the old ram, errors would sometimes come up after a night of testing, but usually not. While testing the new ram, errors always came up after a night of testing.

In any case, using my old ram hasn't caused me any problems for nearly a month atm. And, replacing the mobo isn't an option because mobos generally only slightly drop in price over time and sometimes even increase in price, for whatever reason. When I get around to it, I'll send the new ram in for a replacement. G.Skill has a lifetime warranty.

Something to note, I do rely on a wireless adapter to connect to the internet.

After looking at ebay I noticed my same GPU goes for around $30 and if I get lucky I may even be able to get one for cheaper. I don't have the crossfire connector, does it usually come with the product? I can't remember.

I've been thinking of buying another sapphire hd 4870 and running in crossfire.

I've read different reviews and threads on crossfire and a few on crossfire with my specific GPU, but the information they give is conflicting. Some say the gains in performance is minimal to negligible while others say for some gains performance will be nearly doubled.

I ask that you please not make recommendation about getting a new computer, because it's offtopic. Of course a recommendation to scrap any idea of upgrading would be ontopic.

QUESTION
For anyone that has ran crossfire, preferably with a 4870, what kind of performance gains did you see? Are there any real world examples you can give regarding gaming? And considering my 750 PSU is nearly 5 years old, would you expect it to be able to run crossfire with my setup? I understand PSUs can lose some ability over time.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I bought my first XFX Radeon HD 4870 1GB almost 6 years ago. Nearly 2 years later I bought a second one when newegg had a big sale on them. I had them crossfired for 4 years only having pulled them out last week in favour of a Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 OC 3GB card. They're still sitting close to me on my desk, LOL. The performance increase was massive. These cards were MADE to crossfire, the proof being in the creation of the Radeon HD 4870x2.

I would still be using them today if they supported DirectX11 but alas, they don't. When DX11 first came out I completely ignored it. I ignored it through 2 entire Radeon generations because all games could be played with DX9 or DX10. Now, that situation has changed and the huge price cuts to high-end Radeon parts forced my hand. If DirectX11 doesn't mean much to you, then by all means, get another HD 4870. I would recommend that you use 1GB cards because they lose half their VRAM in crossfire.

Both my cards were 1GB and I played EVERYTHING with them. Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, Skyrim, Starcraft, Starcraft II, Warcraft, Warcraft III Frozen Throne, Diablo II, Diablo III, SecondLife, Star Trek Online, DC Universe Online, Marvel Heroes Online, Rome: Total War, Star Wars Battlefront, Battlefront II, The Force Unleashed, Starfleet Command III, Crysis and Crysis: Warhead. There was no game that I could not play and I always chose high settings. No game ever forced me to medium settings. I also never experienced this "micro-stutter" BS that people have been complaining about since the Radeon HD 6xxx series. Everything was always just as smooth with two cards as it was with one.

Just before I pulled them, I ran 3DMark Vantage so that I could see the performance increase with the HD 7970 and they scored 18,165 performance marks. By contrast, the HD 7970 OC 3GB scored 27,866 performance marks. As you can see, while ATi's highest-level card beats them, they still have a very respectable level of performance in DirectX10 games. I'm sure that DirectX9 would have been even higher. The Windows Experience Index (which only sees one card) ranked a single HD 4870 1GB at 7.2 / 8.0 which is still phenomenal for a card that was crafted 6 years ago.

I'll never be able to put into words what an incredible experience these two cards have given me over the years. I'll never sell them or give them away because of the attachment I got to them. Before them, I had all nVidia cards but I couldn't justify paying $450 for the GTX 260. Paying $300 for a card that matched or beat the GTX 260 however, I could easily stomach. The ATi Radeon HD 4870 1GB is the reason I will most likely never buy another nVidia card again. They turned my blood from green to red just like my Phenom II X4 940 turned my blood from blue to green (if that makes any sense at all...lol). When I made my rig, I was working at Tiger Direct and was floored by the fact that the Q9400 that the 940 performed more or less the same as was over $100 more.

I can say that they ran hot. The HD 4870 is built on a 40nm process and is therefore stable at 100C if needed. They ran at around 80-85C during gaming because I never overclocked them. I never had to. To this day, my two 4870s are still under XFX's double-lifetime warranty but I don't think I'll ever send them in because it would be the last I would ever see of them. If you get the chance to experience what I did, go for it. You'll never buy another GeForce card again. Your 750W PSU should be fine, the cards pull about 300-400W between them. Go and enjoy crossfiring this legendary card, the mighty Radeon HD 4870 that brought ATi back from the brink of oblivion. You'll love it.